Alzheimer’s R&D projects sidelined as Biogen’s aducanumab shock shakes researchers to the core of their beliefs

As Biogen works through the fallout from the stunning implosion of its aducanumab Phase III — and its partners at Eisai bustle ahead with BAN2401 and their BACE program — the shock waves have clearly rippled to the far corners of the Alzheimer’s field. Falling on top of landmark failures for Phase III BACE studies at Merck and Eli Lilly/AstraZeneca, some of the players in Alzheimer’s have already begun to factor in the aducanumab failure on symptomatic patients in making a go/no go decision.

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No one should have been surprised by the aducanumab failure. The Phase 2 data on which they based their Phase 3 trials was based on exceedingly small numbers and equivocal to say the least. The person who made the decision to move forward on that data was either delusional or smoking something. To my mind, verubecestat was the nail in the A-beta coffin, if a BACE1 inhibitor with solid target engagement did not work then any discussion over the toxic form of A-beta was moot. If you were shocked by the aducanumab results you were not thinking.

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Anonymous ago↷

Interesting peripheral Tcell / immune-centric work conducted by Longevity Biotech in the field of neurodegeneration. May yield a new paradigm? http://www.longevitybiotech.com/2016/neuroscience-lbt-3627/https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03633513

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Aaron Whiddon ago↷

No mention of Anavex and its lead drug candidate, Anavex 2-73, and the drugs ability to reduce neuro-oxidation and neuroinflammation??Peer reviewed white-paper coming soon.......eventually the bio -tech world will know. Odds are, and out of any drug it the clinic today, its most likely the next drug to be approved for Alzheimers.

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rb woodward ago↷

The aducanumab failure is best interpreted as a failure of antibodies in CNS disease. The conclusion drawn should be...Antibodies administered systemically do not achieve sufficient brain exposure. Antibodies do not get into the brain. So, it's not necessarily "the complexity and interlinkage of the various biological processes driving the disease" at work here. It's the mistaken choice of the antibody modality as an Alzheimer's disease drug candidate approach. And, we must move on from all the talk of an Alzheimer's vaccine. This disease is simply not some kind of viral or bacterial infection. We would have known that a century ago if it were true. And, it is clearly not a genetically inherited disease. Alzheimer's disease is a progressive, age-related, chronic brain disease. It is likely driven by progressive, age-related, chronic processes in the brain. Best guess at this point is that progressive, age-related, chronic increases in neuro-oxidation and neuroinflammation drive CNS protein mis-folding leading to amyloid oligomer pathologies and tauopathies. Brain permeable small molecules targeting these are likely the next wave for treatment and prevention of Alzheimer's disease. RB